Carve Life Away
by Enigmatic Tathren
Summary: One of them betrayed the other- or did he? Matt insists he’s innocent, but Jeff has his doubts. Matt tries to convince his brother, but as Jeff struggles to find the truth his choice to push Matt away leaves their relationship barely hanging by a thread.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own them (and I think the world's a better place because of it!)**

**A/N: So, start of the next story in this series. For those of you who're just starting to read these… I wouldn't recommend starting with this one. The series starts with **_**Time Withers All **_**and continues to **_**Breaking Both My Wings**_** before this one. Other general info: It takes place before the 2008 WWE draft, but with Matt on Raw, is not kayfabe compliant, and info about the title can be found on my profile.**

**Now, onto the story (before my readers decide to kill me)! And I know it's fairly short, but don't worry. The rest of the chapters will be longer. **

"_What do you want from me? I've told you that the video's fake and you still don't believe me! In case you've forgotten, I've been there for you through every step of this. Your fucking injury, this screwed up mystery- every damn second of it I've been there, even when I've wanted nothing more than to walk away from it!"_

"_And wouldn't this be the perfect way to get out of it? Get rid of me, get rid of all of your problems, right?"_

"_I can't believe you. I just can't believe you…"_

Matt sat up, blinking his eyes. It took a moment for him to realize that he was in his hotel room and when he did he flopped back down, sighing as he did so. It was less than twenty four hours since Wrestlemania and the memory of what had happened was still with him. To say he was hurt by it would be an understatement. Jeff was his brother. He should've believed him when he told him that he didn't plan anything against him, but instead he accused him of something he obviously didn't do.

He was hoping that once they both calmed down- he would admit that, at the moment, he was still too pissed at his brother to be able to hold a conversation with him- they would be able to calmly, rationally discuss things and Jeff would realize that he was wrong. Then they'd be able to explain things to the fans and start working on their research again, actually catch the bastard who did this, and move on in their life. Yet then he'd remember what Jeff had said to him and the anger would flare up again, killing any thoughts of reconciling with his brother.

He sighed. He had tried to stop thinking about the "conversation" he had had with Jeff last night, but it kept playing through his mind, which only made him angrier and, at the same time, made him wonder _Where did I screw up?_

He stood up and walked over to his laptop bag. _Thank god this hotel has Wi-Fi…_ he thought as he grabbed his computer and sat back down on his bed. He needed _something_ to do before he needed to head over to the arena or he'd just continue to drive himself crazy by remembering and obsessing over what happened the night before.

The problem was everything seemed to be bent on reminding him of it. He went to check his email and found more message than he could count from friends and family wanting to know what the hell was going on. He sighed and changed sites, not in the mood to have to explain to everyone that it wasn't his fault. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?" he muttered angrily.

He signed onto Myspace and began typing out a new blog, completely ignoring anything that his fans- or former fans, as the case may be- had already said on his page.

_I'm sure you guys saw what happened last night, or have heard about it. I think I owe all of you an explanation. For those of you who don't know what happened, before Jeff and I could reveal who we thought was behind everything, we were interrupted and a video was shown- a video showing me talking to someone and sounding suspiciously like I was plotting something against Jeff. Needless to say, Jeff wanted to know what happened. _

_I stick by what I said last night. That video was edited. Yes, I had that conversation, but it was not said the way the video showed it to be. I know that I have no proof of that, but I would never hurt my brother like that. _

_Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to want to believe that. For some reason he seems to think that the video's completely true and that I tried to ruin his career. I stood by him when he was injured, putting my own career on hold for almost a year to take care of him. I've done nothing but help him try to solve this damn mystery for the past two months, but he still seems to think that I'm the guilty one here. _

_I suppose that, at one point, the two of us will reconcile but right now I do not see that happening- and not just because of Jeff. I'm still too angry at his actions last night to even be able to think about talking to him without starting another argument, but believe me, if he wants to apologize that's fine by me. I-_

Matt stopped and read over what he had typed. He sighed and closed out of the window without posting the blog and shut down his laptop. "Yeah, because complaining about Jeff online would just go over _so_ well…" he muttered.

He glanced towards the door, silently debating whether or not it would be a good idea to leave his room. It wasn't that he was scared of what people would say or anything. In fact, no one had said anything to him after the show the night before, though whether or not that was a good thing had yet to be seen. On the one hand he didn't want his coworkers coming up to him and demanding to know what he had been thinking, or how the hell he could have done that to Jeff. Yet it would have been nice to have someone tell him that he was in the right, though. He certainly didn't want to arrive at the arena later and walk out to the ring, only to realize that _no one_ believe him.

XXXXX

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there. He had arrived at the arena early- earlier than most of his coworkers- and had squirreled away behind some crates in one of the far corners of the arena. It was quiet and out of the way, which was perfect. He just needed someplace where he could get away from people to think, and his hotel room was out of the question; while he was in there the only thing he could think of was how Matt and he had hung out there Saturday night, laughing and joking.

_And then the truth came out_, he thought bitterly.

He wished that the stories were true, that after something like that you just went numb and didn't feel anything. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case for him. He could feel every damn emotion perfectly and it was killing him. He couldn't block them out, no matter how hard he tried. The anger, the sadness, the fear, the pain- everything was acute and it was more than he could bear. The anger and the sadness and pain were understandable to him. Those emotions were to be expected, considering what had happened. He had every right to be pissed at what Matt had done to him, and sad that his brother had betrayed him. The overall pain was more of an accumulation of the other emotions than a separate one.

Yet the one he just couldn't wrap his head around was fear. _What do I have to be afraid about? _He knew that he shouldn't have anything to fear. After all, he was the victim here, a fact which was so obvious that he doubted anyone would walk up to him and just say, "I'm sorry, but Matt's right." _Why am I afraid then?_ He wasn't afraid to face his brother or coworkers or fans. He wasn't afraid to move on after something like this. _What is it then?_

He let his mind wander, trying to figure out what he would be afraid of.

"_C'mon, Jeff, don't cry… Everything's going to be alright…" The voice was soothing and strong arms wrapped him up in a hug. "I'll always be here for you. Don't worry…"_

Jeff shook his head, fighting down the emotions that the old memory of his brother had brought up. At this point he couldn't even remember what he had been upset about. What he did remember, though, was Matt comforting him, telling him that it would be okay, that he could trust him. _And what a lie it turned out to be…_ Maybe that's why he was afraid, though. Apart from maybe their father, Matt was the one person that he was closest to. He trusted Matt- trusted him with his _life_- and he had still betrayed him.

Betrayal. It was the first time he had thought of the word, though it was obvious that that was what it was. And now he was afraid of someone else that was close to him betraying him, like Matt did. It was horribly cliché and he knew it, but there was still that paranoid voice in the back of his head whispering, _If Matt did this, what will the others do?_

A small part of him flared up, almost in defiance of that thought, but he quickly pushed it aside. Matt was guilty. As much as he wished he wasn't, he knew he was. There was the proof, both the movie and the information that he knew only Matt and his doctor knew, not to mention Matt being unable to provide any reason why he _wasn't_ guilty. _But why does the question have to be "What will the others do?" Why can't it be "What have the other's _done_?"_ _Are you completely sure that Matt's behind this, or do you just want everything to be over?_

Jeff jumped to his feet. There were too many conflicting ideas and emotions running through him right now. Just when he thought that everything was fine, that he knew what had happened, he'd think of a reason why it wasn't like that at all. "Matt's guilty. End of story," he muttered. "There isn't anyone else. There never was anyone else."

"Um… Jeff?" Mickie was standing just to the left of him. He wasn't surprised that she was there; he had expected someone to come along sooner or later, considering Vince would definitely want to talk to him. What did surprise him, though, was how upset Mickie seemed to be. _Are those…tears… in her eyes? _He couldn't think of why she'd be crying. If she sympathized with him, she'd probably say something. If she was on Matt's side, she'd be angry. Yet she was just…. sad.

And Jeff found that he didn't really care too much. "Yeah?"

"Um, well… Vince wants to see you," she said softly.

"Alright," he said nonchalantly. "Tell him I'll be there in a few minutes."

Mickie nodded and, after hesitating only slightly, left him alone again.

Jeff watched her walk away and sighed. "Time to face my brother," he muttered. "Lucky me."


	2. Chapter 2

**rDisclaimer: I own none.**

**A/N: Wow. Honestly, I was really worried about how people would take the ending to **_**Breaking Both my Wings**_** and the first chapter of this story, but surprisingly, everyone seems to like it so far. Thank you to everyone who has shown an interest in these stories!**

**In other news, did anyone see Smackdown on 12/12? I **_**loved **_**The Cutting Edge, especially Edge's comments about how many people want Jeff gone, etc. I love it when the WWE can inspire me like that. ;)**

They weren't saying anything- not to his face, anyway. He could hear them whispering when he passed them in the halls, though they'd stop when he approached. He looked straight ahead, avoiding eye contact with them, though he could almost feel their eyes on him as he walked by. _Just get through the meeting with Vince,_ he kept telling himself. _Deal with the boss, then deal with the coworkers…_

He saw Jeff waiting outside Vince's office and felt a burst of anger well up inside him. He didn't round the corner; he didn't think he could face his brother for longer than absolutely necessary. All thoughts of reconciliation were gone. He could only remember how utterly stupid and idiotic he had acted the night before and it infuriated him. He took a deep breath and, when he heard the door to Vince's office open, finally rounded the corner and walked in right behind his brother.

Jeff didn't even acknowledge his presence. He didn't even glare at him when he walked over to the other side of Vince's office. He simply continued to stare ahead, as if Matt wasn't even in the room, though Matt wasn't sure whether to be hurt or just angry at his actions. He bit back the bitter comment he longed to throw at Jeff and focused on his boss, Stephanie McMahon, and several others members of Creative who were in the room.

They wasted no time in getting straight to the point. "We're not going to deal with this," Stephanie said curtly.

"What?" Both Matt and Jeff had spoken at the same time, though when they realized it they glared at each other and didn't say anything else.

"Because we don't care what's really going on here. That's_ your_ problem," Vince said, his voice as clipped as his daughter's. "You two can battle this out in the ring all you want."

"I'm assuming there's going to be rules, though, right?" Jeff said sarcastically. He didn't know why he was so pissed at everyone. In all honesty, he had expected something like this. _Probably just pissed at having to deal with that traitor…_

Stephanie narrowed her eyes slightly, the only sign that she had heard the sarcasm in his voice. "Of course," she said. "You two are to confine everything to the ring as much as possible. No attacking each other or getting into fights in the hallways or hotels, and if that means avoiding each other than so be it. Feel free to try to work things out _peacefully_, though, and if you manage to reconcile-" the two brothers snorted in disbelief. "-we're more than willing to provide the scapegoat we talked about before. Until then, you're on your own. The only guidance you'll be getting from Creative is info on whether or not other people are going to be going out during your promos or matches."

"However, this does _not_ mean you have free reign to do whatever you want," Vince continued where his daughter had left off. "You both know what we expect of our superstars and we expect you adhere to those standards. I'm also warning you right now, if either of you purposefully injures the other I will _not_ hesitate to fire both of you!"

Matt and Jeff were forced to stay there for a little while longer while Vince and Stephanie alternated telling them their new rules for while they were fighting before they were finally allowed to leave. Jeff brushed past him and Matt, after all but slamming the door shut behind him, said, "What, accusations to make today?" He had a brief moment of _Oh crap, that was not a smart thing to say_ but he brushed it aside.

Jeff had froze, his hands clenched at his sides in fists, body all but trembling in anger. _Remember what Vince said, don't start a fight, don't start a fight…_ He told himself, but it didn't do any good. "What, did you run out of lies to feed to me?" he asked sarcastically. "Did you finally realize that you got caught and you couldn't get out of this?"

The two of them had ended up standing nose to nose as the argument continued. "I wasn't telling you any lies! I didn't do anything to you!" Matt said as he shoved his brother away from him.

"Yeah well sorry if all of the fucking evidence says otherwise!" Jeff said as he shoved his brother, causing him to stumble slightly and hit the wall behind him. The fight would have continued if a small group of security guards hadn't come up and forcefully separated the two.

"Sorry guys, McMahon's orders," one of them said. "We're supposed separate the two of you if you start going at it backstage."

"As long as it keeps that bastard away from me, I'm fine," Matt snarled, just loud enough for Jeff to hear.

The two brothers were escorted away in opposite directions and, only after the guards were sure that they weren't going to go running off to find the other, were they released and left relatively alone- at which point Matt realized what he had done.

"Goddamnit," he muttered. "Perfect way to prove you're innocent, Matt. What the fuck were you thinking?"

His ramblings were interrupted by the arrival of one of the many employees. "Mr. McMahon wanted me to tell you that Shawn Michael's requested to start off your segment at the beginning of the show," he said, slightly out of breath. "I guess he has an announcement to make or something before you go out."

"Thanks for the info," Matt said, somehow managing to keep the sarcasm in his voice to a minimum. _He's not the one you're pissed at…_ The messenger just nodded and ran off, probably to give the message to Jeff as well.

Matt slowly made his way over to gorilla, extremely thankful that his brother was no where in sight; he didn't want to get into another confrontation like the one they had earlier. He had hoped he would get there earlier enough to be able to catch Shawn and ask him what his announcement was going to be, so he would have some idea of what was going on before going out there, but he was running later than he thought and arrived just in time to see Shawn walk out.

Jeff arrived not long after that and the two steadfastly ignored each other- though the security guard who kept watching them to make sure they wouldn't start fighting again may have had something to do with that. They stood a good ways apart, both watching the screen to see what Shawn was doing down in the ring.

"Now, despite what some of you are thinking, this has nothing to do with my match last night at Wrestlemania," Shawn said. He had fought Orton in a number one contender's match for the championship last night and won, though he was going to lose that spot in the rematch later on Raw.

"About a year ago, I fighting Orton, much like I was leading up to last night's Wrestlemania," he continued. "Yet, unlike last night, I wasn't fighting him to gain something for myself. I was fighting him for two people who couldn't fight him themselves- Matt and Jeff Hardy. And last night, after my match to become number one contender, they went out to reveal who they thought was behind Jeff's moves getting banned. And, well…"

He motioned to the Titantron, where a video recapping what had happened the night before was playing. Jeff watched the clips unflinchingly, his hands clenched in fists at his sides. He took a deep breath, trying to tell convince himself that it would not be a good idea to start another fight right now, and went back to listening to what Shawn was saying.

"I have no idea what's going on between these two," he was saying. "And I'm not going to tell you what I think of this. I know that Matt and Jeff are listening and I want to tell them- and all of you- that no one in that locker room back there is going to get involved in this. You probably saw this coming already and I'm just out here to make this official. We're leaving you to solve your problems yourselves."

Jeff was the first to react. He motioned for his music to be played and walked out to the ring. Matt, who was still watching backstage, was surprised to see that the response for his brother was about half and half; the negative crowd reaction, for the first time in awhile, was almost the same as the cheers for him. Yet, though he was happy to see that some fans would most likely be supporting him, Matt couldn't help but feel as though it was too late to do anything about the situation. _The battle lines have already been drawn among the fans…_ he thought. _And who's to say that, despite what Shawn said, they won't be drawn backstage as well?_

Jeff had reached the ring and grabbed the mic that was passed up to him. "Well, Shawn, first off I want to thank you for everything you've done for me in the past. There aren't many guys that'll stick up for someone like you did and you have no idea what it means to me that you decided to help me out." He paused for a moment, acting if he was merely trying to think of the next thing to say, but in reality he was trying to get a grip on his emotions. He would have to start talking about Matt soon and he needed to stay calm through that.

He took a deep breath and began speaking again. "I also want to thank you for the reassurance that no one in the locker room is going to get involved in the business I have with Matt. He hurt me deeply last night at Wrestlemania and whatever occurs as a result of that is strictly between the two-"

Matt's music hit, cutting him off. He snarled, lowering his mic and watching as his brother came out to a fairly good pop. _Why should people be cheering for him after what he did last night?_ Jeff took a few steps back from the ropes as his brother walked down towards the ring and climbed in, an action which was not lost on the people watching.

"Like Jeff, I want to start off by thanking you for the help you've been, Shawn," Matt said. His voice was calm and even, but it was a struggle to keep it that way. The only thing he could think of was that his brother hated him and that _someone_ backstage had set him up- and he didn't know who. As he looked at Shawn he couldn't help but wonder if it was him.

"From what you've said, though, it sounds like most of our coworkers are going to be ignoring us," Matt continued. "And, unlike my brother, I'm not too thrilled about that. See, despite what Jeff thinks, I _didn't_ do this and it's going to be hard to find out who did if-"

"Will you cut it with the "I'm innocent" speech?" Jeff interrupted. "No one believed it last night and no one is going to believe it now!"

"Are you even listening to that crowd? Seems to me like at least half the people here believe me!"

"It doesn't matter what they believe!" Jeff yelled. "This is between you and me. Not them, not the rest of the guys in the locker room- just you and me."

Neither of them knew who threw the first punch but it wasn't long before the two brothers were in a full-out fight, both of them seeking to continue the fight from before. Shawn tried to get between them, but they just pushed him out of the way and continued their brawl. The crowd was cheering loudly, as if they'd already forgotten that just a day ago Matt and Jeff were fighting on the same side, not fighting each other.

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Jeff rolled off his brother and stumbled to his feet. He leaned against the ropes and watched as Mickie James came running out from backstage, mic in hand. Maria, who was right behind her, grabbed her arm and tried to pull her back, but Mickie shook her off. "No, Maria, I'm not going backstage!"

Matt, who had by this point also gotten to his feet, grabbed a mic from where they had gotten thrown at the start of the fight. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Trying to talk some sense into you two!" She yelled. "I'm sorry Shawn, but I'm not going to stand by and watch them tear each other apart!" Shawn just nodded slightly, but didn't try to stop her. She turned her attention back to Matt and Jeff. "You're acting like children! Just a few days ago you were joking and laughing, not fighting each other! You're brothers, in case you've forgotten. You owe it to each other to try to work this out _civilly_."

"This doesn't concern you!" Jeff told her.

"Like hell it doesn't! Whether you two are willing to acknowledge it or not what you two are going through is affecting everyone back there in the locker room. Why do you think Shawn said that no one's going to get involved? It's going to be hard enough dealing with differing opinions without having people literally fighting for you! You've started a war back there and it's only a matter of time before it all comes to a head, unless you work things out!"

"Mickie, it's not that simple!" Matt said.

"Why not? _Why not!?_ Why can't you just talk to each other? Or have you forgotten that you're brothers?" Her voice cracked, but she continued. "Please, guys. Please, just stop fighting and-" She reached up to wipe at her eyes. _Is she crying?_ Matt felt horribly guilty for upsetting her that much. Without saying anything else, she turned and ran backstage.

Matt watched her leave before turning to face his brother. Jeff seemed completely unaffected by what Mickie had said and Matt could feel the anger boiling up in him again, but he pushed it away. He threw down his mic and rolled out of the ring. Right now he needed to talk to Mickie.

He'd deal with Jeff later.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Own nothing. Savvy?**

**A/N: Okay, straight to the point- I have no laptop on which to write. With any luck I'll be able to send it off to someone and it'll be fixed soon. Until then I'll continue using the school and library computers, but the updates will be farther apart until my "baby" comes back.**

**Also, there's a quiz up on my profile about who you think is behind it. Check it out, I'm curious to see what my readers are thinking. **

Although Matt had hurried up the ramp almost immediately after Mickie had disappeared, by the time he had gotten backstage she was no where to be seen. Luckily Cena, who had been waiting for them to get out of the ring so his match could begin, saw him looking around and said, "If you're looking for Mickie, I think she headed towards the woman's locker room."

"Thanks, Cena," Matt said, quickly running off in hopes of catching her before she went inside. Unfortunately he arrived just as the door was swinging shut. He sighed and knocked on the door. "Mickie? It's Matt. Can we talk?"

There was no answer at first. He raised his hand to knock again when, suddenly, the door swung open. However, instead of Mickie James it was Maria who walked out, pulling the door closed behind her. "Where's Mickie?" He asked.

"Still crying, most likely," she said coolly. It was obvious that she was not happy to have to talk with him and Matt knew that he would have to be careful about what he said to her. _I was right- there are battle lines back here... _"What did you want to tell her?"

"I was just wondering why she was so upset about all of this…"

"Why, weren't you listening to what she said out there?"

Matt sighed. _First mistake._ "No, I was. But... she's taking this really personally. Much more personally than I would've expected from her. I was just surprised by how emotional she became and was wondering if maybe there was something else bothering her." As soon as he said it, Matt wished he could have taken the words back. He knew that Maria would think that he wanted to interrogate her and that would be the end of their conversation. _Second mistake._

To his surprise Maria just shook her head and said, "No, as far as I know there wasn't anything else." Matt tried to study her face but he couldn't tell if she was lying or not. _Maybe she doesn't hate me right now as much as I thought… _"Then why was she so upset about it? I mean, a simple 'Get a fucking clue and stop fighting each other' would've worked just as well..."

A grin flickered across Maria's face before she quickly smothered it, the annoyed look quickly returning. "You just don't get it do you?"

"What exactly am I supposed to be getting?" Matt asked, the slightest trace of irritation in his voice which he didn't even bother trying to hide.

Maria rolled her eyes. "I know that this is a business where to get to the top you have to put yourself above others but is it so hard to believe that people here might actually _care_ about you?"

Matt laughed, though it sounded bitter even to his ears. "Considering the past eight weeks I've had-."

"Ignore the past eight weeks!" Maria snapped. "Before any of that happened- before you and your brother became too obsessed with that to worry about anyone else- do you realize how many people cared about you? I can't speak for any of the guys but you and your brother have _always_ been on good terms with me, Mickie, and the rest of the Divas. You stuck up for us, treated us like actual people and not the skanks some of us have to be on TV. Is it so fucking hard to believe that maybe, just maybe, some of us what to try to help you, since you've helped us so much?"

Matt didn't know what to say. He had always considered himself a decent person and, in all honesty, he hadn't even realized that he had earned the friendship of most of the Divas. "So what Mickie said out there… she was just trying to look out for me?"

"Bingo."

It had been eight weeks- eight long, painful, weeks- since Matt had expected people to care about him and look out for him. He hadn't thought that those eight weeks had changed him, but apparently they had. He had always tried to see the glass as half full. _When did it become half empty? When did everything change?_

"Matt? Matt, are you alright?" He hadn't realized he had zoned out until he heard Maria calling to him, the cold edge of her voice replaced with true concern.

Matt's first instinct was to laugh. _Do I look like I'm alright? _He wanted to say. He pushed that reaction back. That wasn't the Matt he wanted to be right now. He didn't want to be the sarcastic, pessimistic, angry Matt that kept looking for a fight, the Matt that pushed his brother away.

For the first time he found himself truly missing Jeff. The overwhelming anger he felt was gone and, while the hurt was still there, there was mostly just a deep ache for his brother. He wanted to talk to him, tease him and fool around like they used to. He needed Jeff there to watch his back, to go to for help when he couldn't deal with things by himself, but he wasn't there. Somehow they had pushed each other away and Matt didn't know how to fix that.

"Matt? C'mon, I was only angry before 'cause you upset Mickie, don't go and break down on me now…"

He didn't know how long Maria had been trying to get his attention, but he knew that she was close to completely freaking out. "Maria, calm down," he said. "Don't worry about me. I'm just… I think I'm going to go back to my hotel room." He was completely exhausted at this point. It had only been about a day since Wrestlemania but the last twenty four hours had been a complete emotional roller coaster. He just needed some time to deal with everything that had happened, before he even started to think about what he needed to do next.

XXXXX

Jeff was falling apart at the seams and he didn't know what to do.

At first he had almost found a sense of comfort in the anger he felt towards Matt. It was something he could latch onto, something constant when it seemed like everything else was changing. He knew how to deal with anger in a way that he couldn't apply to emotions like betrayal. So he did his best to keep the anger, pushing away any and all thoughts that Matt could be innocent. He had seen the video and that was enough.

But now he wasn't so sure.

Jeff paced back and forth in his hotel room, trying to sort out the facts. As far as he could tell there were only two possibilities. Either Matt was guilty, in which case he continued doing what he was doing, or… Matt was innocent. But if Matt was innocent, what was he supposed to do? Was he just supposed to walk up to him and apologize? Jeff snorted. Somehow he didn't think his brother would take him seriously if he did that.

_Besides, if Matt is innocent, what are we supposed to do? Go back to trying to figure out who really suggested the storyline? _Jeff knew that, no matter what, he wouldn't go back to that. The last eight weeks had been hell for him and his brother; he wasn't going to go through that again. More importantly, though, he wasn't going to drag Matt through that again.

His brother had given up so much of his career to help him- part of the reason why he still wasn't sure Matt was completely innocent and part of the reason why it hurt so much to think that he was guilty. Still, there was no denying that Matt had done for him. He had put his career on hold for months to help him get over his back injury and then spent eight hellish weeks doing whatever it took to help him.

If he talked to Matt, tried to get him to forgive him, Matt would want to pick up the "hunt" again. Matt would want to help him anyway he could, even if that meant jeopardizing his own career to do so. And while he may not have known if Matt was guilty or not, Jeff knew now that he was still his brother- and he knew that he wouldn't let his _brother_ sacrifice his life to help him anymore.

Suddenly, there weren't two possibilities anymore. He finally knew what he was supposed to do and he felt strengthened by that knowledge. He picked up his phone, quickly dialed a number, and said, "Vince? About the next pay per view…"

**A/N2: Blah, I know it's kinda short. Still, I figured I'd post it anyway, just so you guys have an update. Hopefully I can get the next chapter up sooner, but it all depends on whether or not I get my laptop back fixed. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I have 63 cents, d'you think I can buy the WWE with that?**

**A/N: Still no laptop, unfortunately. Anyway, I figure I need to give credit where credit is due, so here it goes: Some of Jeff's thoughts and what he says were inspired by Matt's promo on Smackdown. The appearance of Jeff's new "advisor" is credited to my sister, who thought it was only fair that Jeff talked to someone new since Matt chatted with Maria last chapter. Lastly, the comment about being hit over the head with a chair is also credited to my sister, who insisted that that was the real reason Matt hit Jeff (lolnot). Now that that's done, onward with the story!**

Jeff watched his brother pace backstage through half-lidded eyes, trying to block out the thoughts of what would happen next. Matt would go out first, most likely to try to apologize again. Then, he would go out and deliver his news, which would change the game entirely. Everything was arranged with Mr. McMahon- all he had to do was tell the world. At that point, there would be no backing out.

Jeff caught Matt's gaze as his brother looked his way again. They stared at each other for a moment, silently trying to figure out what the other was hiding, before looking away. Jeff suppressed a small sigh. He had come to terms with what he needed to do, but with every day that passed he was less and less sure that Matt had done anything. Still, if it would save his brother's career, he would follow through with his plan, even at the expense of their close bond, even if Matt was innocent.

Inside, he felt like it was Wrestlemania all over again; he knew he was going to lose Matt forever, but this time it was at his hands, not his brother's. Now, though, he had to put on a grim face, walk down to that ring, and put an end to everything he cared about. He had to grab a mic and tell Matt to his face that the Hardyz are no more, that they as brothers are no more.

He pushed that thought aside. Now wasn't the time for second guessing. He had plenty of chances to turn back, plenty of chances to pick a different path, but he knew that this was the only one that would work. Sure, he could reconcile himself with Matt, but he'd spend the rest of their careers trying to stop him from ferreting out the traitor. Jeff knew that, in the end, he'd most likely end up failing as well. This was the only way to ensure that Matt never threw his career away just to help him.

He was so lost in his thoughts it took him a moment to realize that Matt's music had hit and his brother was already on his way to the ring. He stood up and walked closer to the monitor, watching carefully to see what Matt was going to say so he would know what he had to work with when he finally went out there.

"I know you're probably getting tired of hearing this, but I'm not out here to talk to you," Matt was saying. "Jeff, I know you're back there listening to this. I want you to know that I'm done with this. I'm done with the insults and the fighting and the shouting. I don't know whether this will help convince you that I'm innocent…"

Jeff was drawn away from his brother's speech by the arrival of one of his coworkers. He glanced over to where Mr. Kennedy had casually leaned up against the wall. He caught Jeff's eyes and asked, "What?"

Jeff snorted. "Cut the crap, Kennedy. What do you want?"

Kennedy grinned. "What makes you think I want anything?"

"Because you like to mess with other people's problems."

"Got me there," Kennedy admitted. "Anyway, just wanted to let you know that it won't work."

"What won't work?" Jeff asked, genuinely confused as to what his coworker was talking about.

"The plan you've come up with to help Matt. It's not going to work." Before Jeff could start protesting- or even say anything- Kennedy continued. "This is the first time in the past week where you haven't been blatantly ignoring Matt, so you obviously don't hate him anymore, but you haven't come out and apologized so you at least want him to think that you still hate him and… well…"

"You overheard my conversation with Vince earlier today."

"Well… yeah." Kennedy at least had the decency to try to look guilty, though he didn't quite manage to pull it off. "So anyway, out of the goodness of my heart-" Jeff snorted, but Kennedy ignored him and continued. "-I decided to warn you about your impending failure."

"Look, we both you know that you didn't come out here to tell me that I was going to fail," Jeff said. "What do you really want?"

Kennedy sighed. "Listen, I know it's none of my business, but I just wanted to know what the hell you were thinking!" he said. "Your plan is the equivalent of hitting someone over the head with a chair to keep them safe! Yeah, maybe no one would attack them if they were home with a concussion, but eventually they'd come back and get hurt anyway! All you're doing is putting off admitting that you're wrong and that _both_ of you are still going to need to figure out who's really behind this!"

Jeff looked at Kennedy coldly. "You're right. It's none of your business," he said coldly. The sight of one of the crew motioning for him to get ready to go out caught his attention and he nodded at them. "Now, if you excuse me, I need to go out and talk to my brother." With that he pushed past Kennedy, motioned for his music to start, and walked out towards the ring.

XXXXX

Matt heard his brother's music hit and suppressed a sigh. He hadn't been able to talk to his brother privately, so he had finally given up. If he confronted Jeff on live TV, surely they would have to talk about what had happened, and hopefully in a civil manner. _But if the look on Jeff's face is anything to go by, this will not end pleasantly…_ Matt thought as he watched his brother walk down to the ring.

Jeff climbed into the ring and grabbed the mic that was passed up to him. He turned to face Matt and silently stared at him, an unknown emotion briefly crossing his face. _Regret or sadness, perhaps? No… it was probably just anger, like it has been. _Eventually Jeff looked away.

"Matt, I…" he stopped abruptly. He lowered the mic and began to pace, his brows furrowed in thought. "Look, I don't care if you've had a change of heart because nothing you can ever say will change my opinion of you. I know what you're really like and there is no chance of us ever going back to the way things were," he finally said, ignoring the boos and chants from the crowd.

Jeff's words hurt, but Matt hardly paid attention to them as he carefully studied his brother's face. For the first time since the mess had begun Jeff wasn't speaking maliciously and he didn't seem to want to hurt him. He was putting on a good act, yes, but Matt knew him better than almost anyone else and he could tell that it was just an act. A well rehearsed act, yes, but an act none the less.

_But why would he have to act?_ Matt wondered. _It's not like he's shown any reluctance to insult me in the past week. What's changed?_ The first thing he thought of was that, possibly, Jeff was beginning to regret his decision to target him, but he quickly pushed that thought aside. No, there had to be something else going on… but what? Matt knew that he shouldn't be worrying about that now, so he turned his attention back to his brother.

"You said that you weren't going to fight me anymore," Jeff was saying. "But unfortunately, it's not going to work that way. You see, I talked to Mr. McMahon and it's all arranged. In two weeks, at Backlash, it'll be you and me going one on one in an extreme rules match!"

"No," Matt said. "I won't. I wasn't lying when I said that I wasn't going to fight you anymore. Go find someone else to have your match with- it won't be against me."

Jeff chuckled, though to Matt it sounded dead and hollow. "Well, Vince thought you would say that," he said. "So he told me to tell you that, should you refuse to compete in the match, you will be fired- no matter how many people you get to stick up for you!"

Matt's hand clenched into a fist involuntarily. "If you were anyone else, you'd already be thrown out of this ring!"

"But I'm your _brother_ and you said you wouldn't attack me. Are you going to stick by that, Matt? Are you?!"

Though Jeff was yelling, Matt had stayed outwardly calm. "I said I wasn't going to fight you and I stay by that," he said carefully. "At least until the next pay-per-view."

He threw down his mic and climbed out of the ring. On his way to the back, Matt glanced behind him once. Jeff was leaning on the ropes, watching him retreat, an almost yearning look on his face, as if he wished that he could be walking back at Matt's side.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, sadly. **

**A/N: So, yet again, we're approaching the end of a story. One more (hopefully rather long!) chapter after this, and then the final story in this series will start. So sorry for the delay of this chapter, though! There was an important scene that I needed to get in here to start setting up the atmosphere of the next story, though it took quite awhile to actually write it.**

"Welcome to Monday Night Raw and do we have a show for you tonight!"

"That's right, JR! Vince has ordered both Matt and Jeff Hardy to compete tonight- and they're picking their brother's opponent!"

Matt glanced up at the TV as Lawler and JR opened the show, before someone- he couldn't remember whether it was supposed to be Cena or Orton- went down to the ring to cut a promo. He sighed and turned away from the screen, not in the mood to keep track of what was going on with the other storylines.

His match against an opponent of Jeff's choosing was going to be the second match of the night. Matt had a sinking suspicion that Jeff had arranged to have Mark Henry or the Great Khali fight him, but since he hadn't exactly moved from his position in guerilla since he arrived he had no way of knowing who was backstage and who wasn't. He was still hurt by his brother's decision to fight him, but mostly there was a feeling that Jeff was hiding something, almost as if he didn't want to go through with this.

_But why won't he back out, then? _Matt wondered for what must have been the millionth time. He shook his head and pushed that thought away. He only had slightly over an hour to decide on an opponent for his brother, talk to that person, and get Vince to okay his choice.

The problem was, he had no idea who to choose.

Most of the time when this scenario came up the opponents were chosen by Creative anyway. With Matt and Jeff they weren't, since nothing about their situation was scripted. Matt longed for the pre-arranged scripts that his coworkers had, wanted nothing more than to get through the show without having to decide every little thing himself. He had no idea where to even begin looking for an opponent for Jeff.

One thing was sure, though. He wouldn't pick the strongest wrestler, the one that seemed completely invincible. Matt wouldn't do that to his brother, not when he was trying to convince Jeff that he was innocent.

"Pick my opponent yet?"

Matt's head jerked up and he stared at Jeff, who was standing only a few feet away from him. "What?" He was too shocked at the fact that his brother was talking to him off camera to think of something else to say.

He half expected Jeff to make some joke at his expense, like he would have before this whole mess began, but this was the "new" Jeff he was dealing with, the Jeff who just rolled his eyes and said, "I asked if you had chosen my opponent yet."

Matt sighed. "You know that I can't give you a hint about who you're facing," he reminded Jeff, thinking that that could be the only reason why his brother was talking to him.

Jeff scowled, but Matt could've sworn he heard him mumble, "That's not what I wanted to know" as he turned away.

The two brothers stood opposite each other, both steadfastly avoiding the other to the best of their ability. The air crackled with tension as the superstars around them watched them warily, as if expecting one or both to suddenly snap and attack the other. Matt would've almost found it comical, under other circumstances, but when Jeff was completely against him and he still didn't know who to pick as an opponent it was anything but funny.

"Matt, get ready to go out." Now that the stifling silence was broken Matt dared to look up at Jeff. Their eyes met for a moment and Matt desperately tried to find something, anything to help him figure out what the hell was going on with his brother. Jeff held his gaze only for a moment before breaking the eye contact, looking down at the floor.

Matt growled slightly and turned away brusquely, not even bothering to try to identify who among the other superstars was his opponent. He heard his music start up and took a deep breath, trying to get control of his emotions, before walking out for his match.

Jeff looked up just in time to see his brother leave. He sighed and buried his face in his hands, ignoring the looks he was getting from his coworkers. He was far beyond the point where he cared what other thought. Hell, for the most part he stopped caring what Matt thought. _It's for his own good. I'm saving his career. It's for his own good…_For some reason the words weren't as comforting as they were before.

He saw Mark Henry walk over, no doubt waiting for his own entrance, and several of the other wrestlers glared at Jeff. He stared back at them, as if daring them to comment on his decision. _What would you have done if you were in my position?_ He wanted to ask. _If he was guilty, wouldn't you want to punish him as well? If he was innocent wouldn't you want to keep him out of this mess?_ None of them said anything and Jeff finally lowered his eyes again, staring at the floor and wishing the night was just over with.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

Jeff quickly looked up, shocked to see that it was Hunter who spoke. Though they weren't necessarily friends, the two had been on good terms, with Hunter even going so far as to visit him after he had his back surgery. To have Hunter confront him came as a surprise, though the surprise was quickly replaced by anger.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well last I checked that was your _brother_ that you just had Mark Henry fight!" Hunter said, his voice shaking with barely concealed anger. "Or did you forget?"

Jeff's eyes narrowed. "I could _never_ forget that. Every single day it's the only thing I can think about, that it's Matt I'm pitted against now."

The other conversations had stopped as everyone's attention turned to face the two arguing superstars. Some of them were glaring at Hunter, others at Jeff. The younger Hardy took little notice of them, but couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at the battle lines that were being drawn backstage because of him.

"Then why are you doing this?" Hunter asked. "You know he had nothing to do with what happened!"

Jeff stood up. "Hunter-" he said warningly, but Hunter cut him off.

"Don't try to sell me that same bullshit story you've been telling the fans," he said. "We both know that you don't even believe that anymore."

"Shut up," Jeff said. He'd had enough. "Just shut the hell up."

The Game continued as if he hadn't heard him. "Using him as a scapegoat now, then? I used to think better of you, Jeff. Sorry to see I was wrong."

Jeff took less than a second to figure out the best course of action before landing a punch squarely on Hunter's jaw. He stumbled for a moment before turning back to face Jeff, a livid look on his face as he attacked back.

The fight didn't last long. Once their coworkers got over their initial shock they rushed over to pull Jeff and Hunter apart. Jeff let himself be herded over to one corner, while Hunter was led further backstage. It wasn't long until a security guard came over, informing Jeff that he wasn't to leave that spot until after his match later that night.

Jeff sighed. "Well this just fucking sucks," he muttered.

XXXXX

Matt stumbled backstage, tired, sore, and regretting not picking an opponent for Jeff before his match. Before he had fought Mark Henry he was determined to make sure that Jeff fought someone about equal to him and now he was having a hard time convincing himself that he should stick to that plan.

He was about to just walk straight back to the locker room, but the security guard standing near his brother caused him to pause for a moment. "Hey, what happened during my match?" he asked JTG, who was waiting for his cue to go out.

"Man, you should've seen it!" he said. "Jeff and Trips, they were arguing with each other 'bout what Jeff's doing to ya when your bro went and decked him! Took five or six of us to pull them apart!"

"Seriously?" Matt glanced over at his brother. "Doesn't surprise me, actually…" An idea was starting to form in the back of his mind. "Listen, I'll catch you later, JTG," he said. "I need to go arrange something with Vince."

Matt jogged down the hall towards Vince's office. He paused outside the door, wondering if he really wanted to go through with this, before taking a deep breath and knocking. _No turning back now…_ he thought as he heard Vince yell for him to enter.

"Ah, I was just going to have someone look for you," he said when he saw Matt walk in. "I'm assuming this is about who Jeff's going to be fighting tonight?"

Matt nodded. "Hunter. I want him to fight Triple H."

"I take it you heard about their fight then?" Vince sighed. "You sure about this? Your brother going to have one hell of a fight on his hands after what happened earlier, not to mention it won't exactly help your campaign to earn his forgiveness…"

_Oh shit._ "I didn't think about that," Matt said truthfully. "But, if at all possible, I want his opponent to be Hunter."

Vince thought about it for a moment, before nodding. "Hunter wasn't going to have a match tonight anyway, so I see no problem with it."

XXXXX

Jeff glared angrily at the security guard who was still watching him. Neither of them had moved from their position since the fight, despite the fact that Jeff's match was supposed to start in a matter of minutes. It wasn't until he got his cue to head out that the security guard stood aside, motioning that he needed to get out there.

Jeff ran out into the arena, a wide grin on his face. Though he still had no idea who he would be facing he was just glad to be able to finally wrestle. He slapped fans' hands as he made his way to the ring. Though many regarded him as a heel now- and he wouldn't deny that, in some ways, he was- he refused to act like one.

After posing on the turnbuckles Jeff stood in the center of the ring, bouncing slightly, and eager for the match to begin. There was silence for a moment or two and Jeff wondered if Matt had backed out of even finding someone else to fight him, when his brother's face appeared on the TitanTron.

"Jeff, earlier tonight you chose Mark Henry as my opponent and you're lucky that you did because that's the only thing stopping me from coming down to that ring," Matt said. "As your brother I will not fight you in a match but I am not above beating some sense into your thick skull!"

Jeff bristled at the insult but didn't interrupt his brother.

"Unlike you I haven't forgotten that we're related," Matt continued. "And although this isn't going to be easy at least I've given you a fighting chance!"

With that the TitanTron went blank and Triple H's music started playing. As soon as Jeff heard the all-too-familiar opening chords he couldn't help but grin.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Matt, Jeff, Vince, or any other WWE person. Thought I wish I did. Except for Vince, that is. And a couple other superstars. But that is not the point. Also, Jeff's writing is actually snippets of the poem that a friend of mine wrote that inspired this series and that I base the titles off of. A link to it can be found in my profile, along with more information. **

**A/N: So here we are. The day when the disclaimer is finally longer than the author's notes, LOL! No, actually it's the final chapter of the story. As always, the first chapter of the next story is already up. It's entitled **_**Dying Day, Dying Wish**_**. Thank you to everyone who's stuck by me and read this! **

**Also, random trivia, but all the lines from my friend's poem that inspired the titles were included in "Jeff's" writing.**

Jeff wasn't sure whether the time off was supposed to be a blessing or not. Vince had written him and his brother out of the rest of the house shows for the week under the pretense that there was nothing else they could do to promote their match at the pay-per-view. Jeff had a feeling that he just didn't want anything boiling over until Sunday in the ring, but he wasn't going to voice that opinion out loud, at least not where Vince could hear.

To an extent, Jeff was pretty happy to just relax at his house, mostly because he desperately needed the time to recuperate after the match he had on Raw. The few scant plans that had been hastily thrown together for the match were thrown out the window the second the bell rang. Even if Jeff was supposed to win, he doubted he would've been able to. Whether Hunter was just pissed or he wanted to give Matt as much help as possible for that Sunday, Jeff didn't know. All he knew was that it took two refs to help him to the back and he was in agony on the flight back to Cameron.

However, the short vacation also meant that now Jeff had too much time on his hands. He didn't dare venture out of his house, partly out of fear of running into Matt, but mostly because he didn't want to know what his neighbors thought of the current situation on Raw. This meant that he was mostly confined to his house, which left him with little to do.

He was currently sitting in his makeshift studio, trying to find the words to describe the storm of emotions running through him.

_And__ I'll stand next to you  
Until my dying day  
And look at what wasted time does to us  
Withers us away_

_And here's to your dying wish…_

He crossed out the lines. Though Matt was trying to stick by him and the time they wasted in solving the mystery had ruined everything, it wasn't what he was trying to say.

_  
Hiding what words  
Have carved my life away_

But where did the song continue from there? Again, two vicious lines struck out the words.

_I'd like to meet this puppeteer  
The one behind the strings  
The monster calling all the shots  
And breaking both my __wings_

He snorted. That described his thoughts before Wrestlemania perfectly, but not how he was feeling today. He almost didn't care who had tried to ruin his career anymore. After all, as far as he was concerned, they had succeeded.

He crumbled up the pages and tossed them into the wastebasket before standing up, his back cracking and creaking in protest. "Definitely need to take some Advil or something," he muttered as he walked out of his studio, closing and locking the door behind him. "Damn Hunter probably screwed up my back." Yet, like with many things, he just couldn't work up the energy to truly be worried. There was only one thing he was truly concerned about, but it was too late to do anything about it.

After all, the pay-per-view was only three days away…

XXXXX

There were several things that Matt hated at that moment. One was his boss for giving him the week off, thus removing the possibility of distracting himself with his work. He also, for the first time in his life, hated the small town where he lived in because he couldn't even step outside his house without someone whom he'd known his entire life commenting on what happened between him and Jeff. He hated his so-called "fans" who seemed to find joy in leaving insulting messages on his Myspace page, blaming him for everything that happened to Jeff.

Everything he hated was because of his brother, but Matt still couldn't find it in his heart to hate him.

Matt was pissed at Jeff for not realizing that he had nothing to do with what happened. He was confused as to why he had started acting differently if the match on Sunday was his idea. He was upset that his own brother seemed to hate him, and angry that he was going to ignore their close bond, and hurt that no one else seemed to give a damn. Mostly, though, he was lonely.

It had started when he went to his Myspace page. He was going crazy with nothing to do and, since he hadn't posted anything in awhile, he figured he might as well type out a new blog. Before he had even started though, a thought struck him. What were his fans thinking about what was going on between him and Jeff?

_dude, wtf r u doing!?!?!? _

_u dont dserve teh name hardy!!!1!_

_OMG I H8T U Y DID U HURT JEFF LIKE THAT!?!?!?!_

Each comment hurt like a knife to the heart, but he couldn't stop reading. Sure, there were some support comments thrown in there as well, but only the hateful ones stood out. _So you're my fans, huh?_ He thought bitterly. _My loyal followers who used to hang on my every word, who used to honestly care about what happened to me. This is what you were all along, wasn't it? Jeff fans who only lurked around my page, hoping for news of my brother._

If Jeff was there he would've laughed at the comments. Told some joke until Matt realized that they meant nothing, that plenty of people still cared about. But Jeff wasn't there and all Matt could do was stare at the computer screen, every hateful, spiteful word burned in his mind.

Matt shut down his laptop; he had seen more than enough. He walked over the window and looked out across his lawn. It was an overcast night and the moonlight couldn't penetrate through the clouds, but he could still see the outlines of the trees and, further in the distance, the lights from town. However, his gaze was drawn to one light in particular, the light that marked the location of his brother.

"What're you doing, Jeff?" he asked softly. "Do you really hate me that me much? Can't you see that I didn't do anything to you?" He sighed. "God, what I wouldn't give to be able to talk to you, to just know what you're thinking." Matt moved away from the window and collapsed in a chair, his head resting in his hands. "One way or another, this all ends in two days," he murmured.

XXXXX

Jeff couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he could see his brother, insisting that he was innocent. The worst part was, Jeff knew he was. He had finally come to terms with everything and he knew that Matt had nothing to do with what happened to him. He tried to tell himself that what he was doing was going to help Matt, in the long run, but the words weren't as comforting as they once were.

He finally climbed out of bed and switched on a light. "Where did I put them?" he muttered as he walked over to a small, barely-used desk and pulled open one of the drawers, digging through the years of old song lyrics and drawings before finding what he was looking for- an old bag of Sharpies.

He sat back down on his bed, back up against the headboard, pulled out a green marker, and began drawing a pattern on his left hand. After a little while he switched to a different color, and then another. Vince might be pissed when he saw it but the fans wouldn't care. Matt would be the only one to recognize it for what it was. Jeff never used the Sharpies unless something was really bothering him, something that he couldn't tell anyone else. _Then again, I think Matt already knows something's wrong…_

As he doodled he let his mind wander. Would he really be able to follow through with his plans and physically hurt his brother? What if Matt didn't stop trying to get through to him after this- what would he do then? Could he change to another brand if that happened? Would that solve the problem? What would his coworkers do after the pay-per-view? After all, it wasn't like any of them had completely stuck to Shawn's decree of not getting involved, especially Hunter.

Jeff was so engrossed with his thoughts that he barely noticed how much time had passed. He had covered his entire left arm with patterns before he finally set down the Sharpie. He stood up, cracking his back, and walked over to the window. The sun had just passed the tops of the trees, bathing his lawn in the first, pale light of morning.

For better or for worse, the day had finally come.

XXXXX

The air backstage was tense, as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for everything to explode. Though the usual bustle was still there, people were casually congregating around the screens, eyes flicking over occasionally to see if anything had happened yet. Never before had a match been this highly anticipated. No one knew what would happen once Matt and Jeff stepped in that ring, but one thing was certain. The outcome of the match would shake the WWE to its foundation.

When Matt's music finally hit all heads whipped around to stare at the screen. Work was temporarily forgotten and those preparing for a later match finished as quickly as possible. Even Vince and Stephanie paused for a moment to see what would happen. Matt, for his part, was doing his best to act like this was a normal match. It wasn't until he got in the ring, right before Lillian was about to announce his brother, that that changed.

He motioned for Lillian to hand him the mic and, after only a slight hesitation, she did. "Jeff, I stand by what I told you before. I may be forced to participate in this match, but I will not fight you. Take out the ladders or the chairs and do your worst, but I will _not_ fight you!"

He handed the mic back to Lillian as Jeff's music hit. Yet when his brother came out he didn't notice his look of fierce concentration that was supposed to pass for anger or even notice the reaction of the fans. The only thing he could see were the drawings on his brother's left arm. Drawings that he hadn't seen since early 2003, before Jeff was fired from the WWE- only this time, he hadn't even bothered to try to hide them. _Shit, Jeff, if this is messing you up that badly why are you going through with it?_

The bell rang, startling Matt from his thoughts. No handshake, no good luck wishes between brothers. Just the harsh clang of the bell before Jeff attacked, lunging forward with lightning-quick reflexes. Matt had been expecting this and quickly moved to the side, though he just barely got out of the way. However, he hadn't anticipated how fast Jeff would redirect his offense and he found himself with no other choice but to lock up with his brother in the center of the ring.

Matt was desperate to back his brother into one of the corners, in hopes that that would slow down his attack, but Jeff still had the forced anger and adrenaline running through his veins. It wasn't long before Matt was the one forced into the corner. Jeff paused for only a moment when the ref told him to break his hold before he started throwing punches. Matt doubled over as one landed squarely on his gut, knocking the wind out of him. A couple more punches and he felt his feet start to give way underneath him. He struggled to remain standing, knowing it would only be worse if he went down, but he just couldn't.

Jeff felt a twinge of guilt when he saw his brother collapse against the ropes and he paused for a moment. _No, you need to do this._ He took a deep breath and began kicking Matt._ Remember how he's hurt you. He's just another opponent… _He left Matt in the corner and rolled out of the ring, lifting the apron and digging around underneath for a moment before pulling out a ladder, a table, and a couple of chairs, which he tossed into the ring before climbing back in himself.

Matt had gotten to his feet at this point and, as soon as he saw that Jeff was back in the ring, he quickly dropped down and rolled out. Jeff sighed, but followed him out of the ring, blocking off his only escape route and wasting no time in throwing him into the steel steps. Matt cried out as Jeff pulled him up using the shoulder that had just connected with the steps, helpless as his brother dragged him over to one of the announce tables and, after a few more punches, positioned him on top of it.

Matt listened as the announcers screamed about what Jeff was doing, wondering how he could do that to his own brother, and snorted. Whatever Jeff was thinking, the thought of Matt being his brother was far from his mind. _Maybe I should remind him of that fact… though I don't think he's going to listen to me. _He glanced over at Jeff, only to see him busy setting up a ladder next to the table. Matt winced. _That's going to really fucking hurt_. He knew, though, that he had to wait and roll off the table at the last possible second, or risk Jeff climbing down and just attacking again.

He glanced up just in time to see Jeff pause at the top of the ladder before jumping off. Matt watched, almost in slow motion, as Jeff fell towards him. He rolled suddenly to his right, just as his brother landed on the now-empty table, the force causing it to give way underneath him. Matt slides away from the wreckage and closer to the ring before stopping. _God, it hurts so much…_ He knows he needs to move but he can't bring himself to. _Hurts so much…_

Jeff's back was killing him, but he pushed the pain away. _Deal with it later, deal with Matt now_. He shakily got to his feet, leaning heavily on the ladder for a moment. Matt was starting to pull himself up using the ring apron and ropes and Jeff slowly made his way over to his brother. He punched him a few times, even landing one good blow to his head, before rolling him into the ring. He hesitated for a moment before folding up the ladder and sliding it into the ring.

He quickly set up the ladder in the center of the ring and, next to that, he set up the table that he had thrown into the ring earlier in the match. When that was done he walked over to Matt, kicking and punching him a few more times before setting him up on the table. Matt knew what was going on, knew that he had to fight back, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He was beaten down, physically and emotionally, and all he wanted was for the match to end.

Jeff avoided looking down at his brother as he climbed the ladder. He paused at the top of the ladder, eyes scanning across the crowd, his body simply going through the motions while his mind was detached. He glanced down only to gauge where he needed to aim for, before jumping off, executing a picture-perfect Swanton.

Matt felt his brother land on top of him, causing the table to collapse. He felt his brother stand up, no doubt due to the adrenaline that had to be coursing through him at this point, but he stayed where he was. He hadn't fought during the match yet and he wasn't going to start now, so what was the point in moving? Jeff would attack him some more, maybe do another Swanton if he felt like it, and when he got tired of the match he'd go for the pin. One, two, three and it'd be over.

Everything would be over.

Jeff lifted his brother's head and slid a chair underneath it before taking a step back. He couldn't avoid looking at his brother now, not if he wanted to actually hit him on the head. So he raised the other chair above his head and looked down, fully intending to take a quick glance, like he had before the Swanton, before swinging the chair down and going for the pin.

Instead, he found himself stopping, his gaze locked onto his brother lying at his feet. He looked so… frail. So lost. He was curled in on himself, eyes screwed shut in pain and trembling slightly. What scared Jeff the most, though, was that he couldn't see that spark that was pure Matt. The pure energy and optimism and humor and confidence and _everything_ that made him who he was gone. Jeff was still holding the chair over his head as he stared down at Matt, frantically searching his face for some trace of the brother he knew.

Matt's eyes cracked open, confusion clouding them as he stared up at Jeff. And there, deep in Matt's gaze, was the spark Jeff was looking for. Matt was still there. His brother was still there. Jeff started to shake, the well-built wall in his mind slowly crumbling. This was his _brother_. What was he doing? _What you have to…_ Did he have to do it, though? _Yes…_

No.

Jeff lowered the chair, dropping it harmlessly at his side. He knelt down next to his brother, wrapping his arms gently around him and brushing the hair back from his face. Jeff began to cry silently as the ref discreetly motioned for the match to end and a stretcher was rushed out to the ring. The medics tried to pry Matt away, but Jeff clung onto to him, tears running down his cheek as he absolutely refused to let go.

Jeff stood up cautiously, his brother still in his arms. Matt whimpered quietly and unconsciously clung to his neck, eyes once again closed tightly from the pain. Jeff whispered soothing words to him, promises that he'll never push him away again, as he carefully climbs out of the ring and walks up the ramp, his brother held close to him.

And he vows to never let go again.


End file.
